NEWS

Report shows Yamuna’s dirty faece

Source: The Times of India, New Delhi, Date: January , 2010

We all know Yamuna water is not fit for bathing,
let alone drinking. But the latest report from the Central Pollution Control
Board, sure to raise a stink before the Commonwealth Games in the capital, says
the river is so full of excreta that its water resembles that of a drain.
According to stipulated standards, water can be made potable with treatment if
fecal coliform is less than 500 per 100ml and it’s fit for bathing if the
number is less than 5,000 per 100ml. According to CPCB’s 10-month-long
monitoring of the Yamuna at Nizamuddin, the lowest level of fecal coliform in
the water was 4.4 lakh per 100ml, measured on May 4, 2009. That’s almost 100
times above the level considered safe for bathing. The monitoring took place
between January 6 and October 6 last year, according to the latest report
submitted to the Supreme Court by CPCB through counsel Vijay Panjwani. Even at
Palla the water quality could not be termed potable because of the high level
of fecal coliform. Except for the test results on September 2, 2009, when the
fecal coliform was 2,900 per 100ml, in all other months it was above the
stipulated 5,000 level. The highest coliform count recorded at Palla was
43,000, on July 7. ‘‘The total pollution load discharged through 25 drains in
river Yamuna during the ten rounds of monitoring from January to October was
between 174 tonnes per day to 330 tonnes per day,’’ CPCB said.